Anderson Mesa
August 8-9, 2009
By Ryna Rock, AZ Wildlife Federation President

Let me tell you about a beautiful weekend in northern Arizona I was lucky to be part of! By all estimates, around 80 people spent all or a portion of their weekend working at the co-sponsored AWF/AAF project adjacent to Lake Mary and on Anderson Mesa. The participants were separated into two segments, with several work crews in each, the result being an amazing amount of work done through their efforts for wildlife and habitat. They finished the electric fence roll-up started at a prior project and also worked closing a road to a wetland and posting signs. There was other fencing removal and bottom wire work done as well in the project areas.

Some of us devoted ourselves to being the cooking crew for Saturday afternoon & evening and Sunday morning. High praise was given the quality and quantity of the food. The AAF has a fantastic cooking trailer, completely supplied with everything needed to turn out a meal for 9 or 90. The evening meal was sponsored by the Arizona Antelope Foundation and the morning meal by the Arizona Wildlife Federation. We had ourselves a bunch of hearty eaters! Dinner was appetizers of freshly made quesadillas, with a main course of steak, baked potatoes, ranch beans and green beans. Breakfast was cream cheese scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, sausage, grill fried potatoes and tortillas. 

There were quite a few AWF members there, even more AAF members and they were all there for one thing – getting the most work done they possibly could in such a short time. I counted many who held "dual" membership in both the AWF and the AAF. Three Boy Scout Troops turned out, and just regular folks from as far away as Tuba City, who read or heard about the project in various media and came out to lend a hand. It was an opportunity for networking, discussing issues, and just getting to know each other. What an inspiration they all were! 

The AAF and AWF can both be very proud of the turn-out and with the help we brought to the project. Past AWF Award recipients Rick Miller of Game & Fish, Henry Provencio of Coconino Forest, and Claire Harris of Flagstaff were part of the work crews, along with other Game & Fish and Forest Service personnel. 

Thank you to all of you who were there and worked your tails off all day Saturday and a good part of Sunday. Special thanks to Mark & Kyler Boswell, Alison, & Jen Anderson, Tice Supplee, Jerry Guevin, Chris Fonoti and Ken Stephens for all their hard work at preparing and cooking, and to Tom & Margaret Mackin for bringing in the breakfast provisions on very short notice. Scott Anderson, AAF's project coordinator, really needs a big thank-you for doing all the pre -project planning, set-up, and for being the all around go-to guy for the whole weekend. He spent a lot of time making sure it all went well. 

I personally appreciate the support of all who came and worked, and was so glad of the fact that each person I talked to had a great time and felt their time was well spent. Many of the comments were appreciative of the fact that the Arizona Wildlife Federation operates as a wildlife and habitat/conservation group and I got advice to remain just that. I found this input enlightening from the aspect of receiving "feedback" from average sportsmen and the public. It was literally very encouraging to me to get a picture of how the AWF is perceived by these folks. 

So, all of you who helped out on this project and all of you who didn’t but want to help on the next one, we have a chance to get out there again and do some good work with the AAF at the Buenas Aires Wildlife Refuge in February. It will be here before we know it. The good part is we will be doing something for wildlife and habitat in another part of the state. 

Project volunteers: 
Jerry & Anthony Acedo, Scott & Jen Anderson, Art Boswell, Mark Boswell, Sam & Kyler Boswell, Eric Burden, Peter Chapman, Allison Dougherty, Brian & Broderick Drew, Don Duesenber, David, Kevin, & Amy Faulk, Theron Fleminz, The Frazier Family, Jerry Guevin, Bob & Marilyn Hanlin, Clair Harris, Neil Heinrich, Kevin Hunter, Fred & Kathie Johnson, Jody Latimer, Melanie Lawrence, Les Line, Robert Mackin, Tom Mackin, Brian Maris, Keith & Sherry McDonnell, Jimmy Mehen, Keith Menasco, Douglas Miller, Quinn Morrell, Jay Morrison, Anthony Moscara, The Munroe Family, Robert Murray, Al Ordorica, Ryna Rock, Nancy Santiago, Brad Slezak, David Snow, Joyce Starr, Ken Stephens, Al & Marsha Sue, Tice Tupplee, Jan Svendsen, Chelsea Tamietti, Connie Taylor, Mark Tervo, Chris Vollojos, Bryce Waddell, Phillip Warner, Dwight Wilson, John & Elaine Wintersteen, Don Winward, The Wood Family, Boy Scout Troop 364, Boy Scout Troop 575, Boy Scout Troop 579, Troy Christensen (AZGF), Henry Provencio (USFS).